Saints latest to run into Geneva buzzsaw
Most coaches don't like talking about long winning streaks - perhaps for superstitious sake.
But after watching her team extend its winning streak to 20 games with a 69-41 nonconference triumph over St. Charles East, Geneva girls basketball coach Gina Nolan made an exception Saturday night.
"We did just mention that this is number 20 and about what a great accomplishment this is," said Nolan. "But other than that, we never talk about it."
While raising their record to 20-0, the Vikings followed a familiar pattern - jumping out to an early lead, crashing the boards, playing in-your-face defense and showing unselfishness at the offensive end.
Three minutes into the contest, the Vikings had already built a 13-3 lead with all 5 starters putting their names in the scoring column.
After Lexi Baltes (13 points) connected on a 3-pointer to pull the Saints (10-6) within 15-12, the Vikings went on a 9-2 run over the final 53 seconds of the opening quarter, capped by Emily Hinchman's 3-pointer, to make it 23-14.
Geneva scored 6 unanswered points to stretch its lead to 29-14 and held St. Charles East scoreless for the first 6:04 of the second quarter before Jaime Rust (11 points, 4 assists) ended the drought with a 3-pointer from the top of the key. Lauren Wicinski, who poured in a game-high 22 points with 10 rebounds, finished the first half with a late basket inside to give the Vikings a 34-20 halftime advantage.
"I thought we handled their full-court press and half-court trap well but our half-court defense was not up to par tonight," said Saints coach Lori Drumtra. "(Number) 40 (Wicinski) had way too many points from underneath the basket."
The Saints fought to within 10 on two separate occasions in the third quarter, but the Vikings closed the period with a 10-3 surge to up the lead to 51-35.
For the third consecutive quarter, the Vikings scored a basket as the clock wound down, this time on senior guard Taylor Whitley's putback at the buzzer.
"Offensively, we worked together well as a team," said Nolan. "The girls are great and incredibly unselfish with each other. They're always hustling up and down the floor and whoever gets there is there and someone is there to rebound if there's a miss."
Wicinski, Kelsey Augustine (6 points, 6 rebounds) and Sam Dudman (4 points, 5 rebounds) combined for 21 of the Vikings' 31 rebounds (to the Saints' 16).
"Kelsey, Sam and Lauren all did a great job on the boards tonight," said Nolan. "In the first half, we had a couple of those putbacks that were halfway in the cylinder and popped out. We finally got some to drop (in the second half)."
Whitley added 19 points, 5 steals and 4 assists for the Vikings, while Kat Yelle and Hinchman chipped in with 8 and 7, respectively.
"We don't take anyone for granted," Augustine said of her team's approach. "We go out there and play the best we can and I guess it has been good enough."
Kara Schnier had 12 points and 6 rebounds for the Saints, who came away impressed by the Vikings' all-around game.
"They're definitely strong at every single position and play hard in all five spots," said Drumtra. "But I think we're a better defensive team than we showed tonight. We don't usually give up 69 points."